Of the hundred or more musicians playing in a typical symphony orchestra, at least 30 of them are violinists. The violin becomes the star of the orchestra because of its beautiful tone and its capacity to express a wide range of music. But did you know who, when or where did the first violin invented?
History tells us that the violin took many years to developed and perfected by our ancestors. The violin’s roots were traced back in India. It is in this country that man first used a bow to play stringed instruments. And during the Middle Ages in Europe, man also begins to play various stringed instruments using a bow.
One of these stringed instruments is the vielle, which is believed to be introduced in Europe during the 10th century. Like the violin, the vielle was also held at the musicians shoulder and a bow use to make sound against its strings.
Later, the vielle’s design was upgraded greatly to incorporate the rebec instrument. The rebec is an Arabic instrument that originates in Spain and spread to the rest of Europe. The vielle’s sturdy body was combined with the rebec’s clever arrangement of the pegs to make a new group of musical instruments. Thus, the basic design of the first violin was born.
Between 1550 and 1600, the first violin received its basic shape and design. During this time, it is hard to determine which one individual was attributed to the invention of the violin as we know today. While the most successful and famous violins were made during the 17th and 18th century.
Meanwhile, Italians produces the most outstanding families of violin makers. Each family maker has its own trade secret which is only handed down for generations from father to his sons. An example of this is the Amati family of the city of Cremona who produces violins that are known for its very rare sweetness and softness of its tones. The Amati family teaches the art of violin making to others, but never divulges the family’s secret to outsiders. For a long time, many believed that no one would be able to make better violins than the Amati family.
But Niccolo Amati had one very special pupil in the name of Antonio Stradivari. Antonio become the star pupil of Niccolo and later came to be known as the “master of all masters”. Antonio Stradivari had developed a larger, flatter type of violins which produces more tones as well as power. In his lifetime, it is believed that Stradivari had built at least 1,116 instruments to which at least 540 are still known to exist today. Each one cost an enormous amount of money to acquire and all are considered as a great work of art.
As for the violinist, many believed that the greatest violinist of all time is Niccolo Paganini (1784 – 1840).
